RUL 05.67.850 – Department of Molecular Biomedical Sciences Reappointment, Promotion and Tenure Standards and Procedures

Authority: Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost for Academic Affairs

History: First Issued: September 27, 1999. Last Revised: September 19, 2008.  

Related Policies: 

NCSU RUL05.67.853 – College of Veterinary Medicine Reappointment, Promotion and Tenure Standards and Procedures

NCSU REG05.20.27 – Statement of Faculty Responsibilities


Additional References:

Office of the Provost RPT Website

Contact Info: Department Head, Molecular Biomedical Sciences (919-513-6422)


1. Introduction

This rule describes the standards and procedures for reappointment, promotion and tenure (RPT) in the Department of Molecular Biomedical Sciences and is supplemental to and consistent with the college rule and university Academic Tenure Policy.

The Department of Molecular Biomedical Sciences (MBS) is one of three departments in the College of Veterinary Medicine at North Carolina State University. The Department is responsible for instruction of veterinary medical students, graduate students and residents. Courses presented to veterinary medical students are discipline-oriented and include gross anatomy, histology, embryology, physiology, nutrition, clinical pathology, pharmacology, toxicology, anesthesiology and radiology. Departmental faculty are involved in interdepartmental graduate programs of North Carolina State University (Biochemistry, Genomics, Physiology, Immunology and Toxicology) as well as the Comparative Biomedical Sciences Program (Pharmacology, Infectious Disease, and Cell Biology concentration areas). Departmental residency programs include radiology, radiation oncology, anesthesiology and clinical pharmacology.

2. Areas of Faculty Responsibility

Realms of faculty responsibility include: (1) teaching and mentoring students, (2) discovery of knowledge through discipline-guided inquiry, (3) technological innovation, (4) extension and engagement with constituencies outside the university, and (5) service in professional societies and within the university itself. The manner in which faculty members meet these responsibilities and document their activities is described in the individual’s Statement of Faculty Responsibilities.

3. General Standards

Faculty performance will be evaluated in recognition of the weight of percentages assigned to each responsibility.

3.1 Evidence of good teaching must accompany each positive recommendation for promotion. Scholarly activity in education may include writing textbooks, review papers in reputable journals, monographs, generating and organizing web-based instructional tools, developing and obtaining certification for autotutorial programs, organizing major symposia on topics of vital concern to the profession or developing and scientifically evaluating other new approaches to teaching not specifically listed above. A record of invited presentations on teaching methods also is evidence of scholarly activity in education. Recognition of teaching excellence by students and peers is also part of the evaluation process.

3.2 Each faculty member is expected to work in a collegial manner and contribute to the mission of the College of Veterinary Medicine. This can include contributions to teaching in the professional DVM curriculum and scholarly activity for the benefit of animal health and/or translational medicine.

3.3 Evidence of successful research must accompany each positive recommendation for promotion. Documentation of independent creative and scholarly activity in a departmental discipline is the responsibility of every member of the Departmental Faculty. Comparative medicine is the major research emphasis of the department and it includes work at the whole-animal, cellular and molecular level. Research work should be original and published in major journals of the discipline concerned.

The standard to be considered is the number of substantive works accepted for publication through a peer review process and evidence of funded extramural research grants.

The evaluation of quality as well as quantity of research for reappointment, promotion and/or tenure must be applied with judgment since there may be substantial variation among refereed works in terms of their contribution to the academic and professional community. The quality of the work itself and the quality and prestige of the journal or other medium in which the work appears are factors to be considered. Evidence that the work was an independent intellectual initiative of the faculty member is also critical. Most of the published works should be in the candidate’s field, broadly defined, and some should be in professional or academic journals recognized to be of high quality. The impact factor of the journal and the Science Citation Index of the faculty member may be a consideration when evaluating the quality of scholarly activity. Evidence must be presented in the candidate’s dossier that the work has either been published or accepted (acceptance letter from the Editor of the Journal). Manuscripts submitted or in preparation will not be considered when evaluating the quality of scholarly activity.

Papers presented at professional meetings and activities such as membership on editorial boards of refereed journals, serving as a referee, assisting colleagues with their research activities, and other contributions to the scholarly life of the department will also be considered, but are not expected to be major considerations for faculty promotion from Assistant to Associate Professor with tenure. Invited presentations at national and international research symposia and conferences also may be considered evidence of the impact of the faculty member’s contribution to research.

3.4 Evidence of service in professional societies and within the college and university must accompany each positive recommendation for promotion. Major clinical service responsibilities of the department include Radiology, Radiation Oncology, Anesthesiology, Clinical Pharmacology and Clinical Nutrition. Although clinical service is inextricably bound to teaching veterinary students, interns and residents in a hospital environment the fulfillment of clinical requirements in itself will rarely be considered adequate evidence of teaching or clinical investigation.

4. Standards for Reappointment as Assistant Professor

Reappointment as Assistant Professor requires that the individual is making satisfactory progress towards meeting the standards for promotion to the rank of Associate Professor with tenure (Section 5) and is conducting himself/herself in a collegial manner.

5. Standards for Promotion to Associate Professor with Tenure

Promotion to Associate Professor with tenure will be evaluated for each faculty member with regard to assigned effort in the individual’s realms of responsibility described in his/her SFR. The expectation is that a faculty member, through innovative peer-reviewed contributions in a major focus area of scholarly activity will have achieved national recognition and that there is promise that contributions will continue such that attaining International recognition, with promotion to Professor is highly likely.

6. Standards for Promotion to Professor

Promotion to Professor will be evaluated for each faculty member with regard to assigned effort in the individual’s realms of responsibility as described in his/her SFR. In general, the expectation is that a faculty member, through innovative peer-reviewed contributions in a major focus area, will have achieved international recognition. However, for promotion to Professor, cumulative outstanding leadership within the university, over an extended number of years, that contributes to the national or international recognition of university programs may be heavily weighed in lieu of the faculty member’s individual national or international recognition for scholarship and leadership.

7. Standards for Promotion of Special Faculty

Special faculty appointments are non-tenure track, fixed-term appointments as lecturer and assistant professor, associate professor, or professor with the appropriate modifier. Professorial special faculty appointments have a prefix modifier of either “clinical”, “teaching” or “research.” Qualifications for special faculty professorial ranks are the same as for comparable tenure track ranks. Promotions within the professorial special faculty ranks are considered through the same process as for promotion and tenure. Special faculty members appointed at the rank for which the candidate is being considered will participate in the DVF deliberations.

8. Procedures for RPT Review

Faculty members will be notified by the Department Head during their annual review in the spring before their mandatory time for reappointment and tenure consideration. In cases where there is a request for non-mandatory reappointment, tenure or promotion, a committee of the Full Professors (and in appropriate cases, tenured Associate Professors) of the department will meet in the summer before such formal consideration will be made. This meeting will be for the purpose of evaluating the individuals to give them guidance as to whether the timing for such consideration is appropriate.

All Department procedures will be consistent with those of the College of Veterinary Medicine and NC State University. The schedule of deadlines for dossier submission and Department Voting Faculty meetings will be set and communicated by the Department Head.

Absentee votes may be submitted to the Department Head by faculty who are unable to attend the Department Voting Faculty meeting. The Department Head will announce the deadline for absentee vote submission to enable the department to meet the college submission deadline.